


Easy

by eruthiel



Series: New River [2]
Category: MarsCorp (Podcast)
Genre: Age Difference, Amnesia, Angst, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, M/M, Non-Consensual Tickling, Past Underage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 20:35:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14172897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eruthiel/pseuds/eruthiel
Summary: Colin sighs and pulls back a bit. "All right. I thought this might help to jog your memory, but I guess these things take time." He pauses. "It's hard for me. I've missed you."





	Easy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lothiriel84](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lothiriel84/gifts).



> Title from Trust Me by Susanne Sundfør. This is a particularly cruel Col, but don't worry, David will give him what he deserves this time ;) hope you enjoy!

Colin comes back the next night and leads David through the empty corridors, up to an observation dome, where they sit on the floor and look out at the planet's surface. He produces a lollipop from his coat pocket, unwraps it in one twist, and watches too keenly as David pops it in his mouth. David feels uncomfortable, but he doesn't object; he likes sweetness, and it gives him an excuse not to talk. When Colin's arm creeps around his waist, he stiffens his back and stares straight at the rusty red landscape below.

To his left, Colin is still watching him intently, making him blush. He leans in close to David's ear and breathes, "Are you okay, babe?"

Without glancing around, David nods.

Colin sighs and pulls back a bit. "All right. I thought this might help to jog your memory, but I guess these things take time." He pauses. "It's hard for me. I've missed you."

"Mhm."

"I never stopped thinking about you. I always wanted to come back and be with you." When David doesn't respond, Colin moves in closer again. "I've thought thousands of times about how it would go when I finally got to see you. I told myself it was the first thing I'd do on returning to this miserable planet, before anything else; I would find you and – well. See if you were still the darling boy I remember so fondly." More than anything, he sounds sad. "I guess you're not, though, huh."

Slowly, David rolls the lollipop out from between his lips. Somehow it makes him feel both a little more powerful and a little more frightened, the way it makes Colin shudder. "How, then," David asks carefully, "do you remember me?"

"Are you sure you want to know the answer to that question, baby?" Colin slides one fingertip under the frayed fabric of David's trousers. "I never forgot a single moment. It might take a while to recap."

"We've got time. Try me."

Colin shakes his head and laughs awkwardly. It hits David with a powerful sense of déjà vu and an even more powerful impulse to kiss him, in spite of the fear still hovering around his stomach. He's not just pretty; he's cute, and there's something about the way his eyes crinkle that makes David want to give him everything.

"How do I remember you? Let's see. Brilliant, of course. Shy, but wonderfully feisty underneath. You were a force for chaos. When I slept with other people, I used to close my eyes and picture you instead. But that's more about me than you, I suppose."

David puts the lollipop back in his mouth and sucks. Colin gives a soft little moan and buries his face in David's shoulder. "You're killing me, David."

"I'm sorry. Ah, I-I'm not trying to."

"Some things never change. Do you know what you are, David?"

People have told David he is many things throughout his life, almost none of them good. He blinks and shakes his head.

"Then let me show you," Colin whispers, suddenly sliding his hand all the way under the waistband of David's trousers. David gasps and tries to pull away, but he's held fast. "There's no point trying to resist it. I told you, I know you better than you know yourself. I know what you want."

"I-I'm not sure that I want... this..."

"Don't be silly, baby." Colin kisses him, hard, and David opens his mouth out of some habit he doesn't remember forming. Colin uses his tongue to manoeuvre the lollipop into his own mouth, then pulls away, cracking it between his teeth. David flinches.

"You used to dream about me every night," purrs Colin, still chewing on the shards of candy, one hand still exploring inside David's trousers. "You wanted this so badly you did anything and everything I wanted just to be close to me. That kind of love doesn't just go away."

And maybe he's right, because David is melting. Colin is so confident, and so insistent, and so very handsome that saying no to him seems almost unnatural. Yet something inside David keeps him on edge, refuses to let him relax into the inevitable. He ducks out of the way of another kiss. "I'm not sure about this, Colin..."

"That's exactly what you used to say when you were about to say yes."

"I-I know you just want to pick up where we left off, but try to understand – from my point of view, I've hardly met you. C-can't we just... take it a bit more slowly?"

"Slowly? Did you think you were taking it slowly when you followed me up here? What the fuck did you think was on the agenda?"

Even though there's nothing explicitly threatening in his voice, something about his tone fills David with terror. No matter what else happens, he knows he doesn't want Colin to get angry. "I... I don't know... I thought maybe we'd just talk for a while, but..."

"Slowly," Colin scoffs, but he withdraws his hands. "Whatever, dude. Fine. I can take a hint."

"I-I'm sorry."

"It's fine if you're not into me anymore. Maybe the years haven't been as kind as I thought."

"It's not that, I swear. You're gorgeous. Honestly. I-I just... um..."

"Yeah, yeah. Some things really don't ever fucking change." Colin frowns at the view for a while, or maybe at his own reflection in the window. Then he runs his hands through his hair and rearranges his face into a casual smile. "It's all cool. Slow is cool! Why rush, eh? We've got plenty of time!"

David laughs nervously. "Ye-es..."

"Hey, don't sound so uptight, buddy! Everything's still cool!"

"It-it sure is, hahaha!"

Colin nudges him playfully. "Hey, while you're getting to know me, I'm getting to know the new you, huh? Maybe grown-up amnesiac David is a whole different person to the evil genius I fell for all those years ago."

Unsure what to make of that, David gives a non-committal shrug and inches away as subtly as he can.

Colin follows, almost imperceptibly. "Slowly," he repeats. "Well, my David always was a fan of doing things the right way, even when it took more time. Always telling me to cool my jets. That was in the lab, I mean. When it came to affairs of the heart, he was a little more impulsive."

David is pretty sure what that is supposed to mean. He remembers his own promiscuous schooldays well enough, and is in no doubt that his sixteen-year-old self must have been on his hands and knees for this man at barely a gesture. He swallows hard. "I'm sure it got him into trouble."

"Oh, all the time." Colin grins. "The good kind of trouble, though."

"What else do you remember about me? Anything important I should know?"

"Hmm." Colin's smile turns sly, in a way that David can't help but find thrilling, even while it simultaneously triggers every mental alarm bell he has. "Well, I do remember my evil genius having one critical weakness."

David turns his wide eyes on Colin and breathes, "Weakness?"

"Mm-hmm. Everybody has one. Me, I'm just too gosh-darn nice for my own good, especially when it comes to shapely young men like yourself."

Despite David's best efforts, they are, if anything, sitting closer together than before. He shivers. "But what about mine?"

Colin shrugs. "I can't speak for you, new David, but my David was dealt a strong hand. He was crazy smart, as discussed – relentlessly ambitious, hard-working – a true maverick, and a wonderful little cocksucker. But you know what else he was?"

"What?"

"Ticklish."

David has half a second to process before Colin is on him, both hands under his shirt, finding and exploiting his ticklish spots with the merciless accuracy of someone who has definitely been here before. David squeals and collapses backwards, throwing up both hands to try to protect himself, but since regaining his memories he's found himself unaccountably feeble; whatever he forgot, it took a physical toll on him that has yet to be overcome. Besides, he's always been delicately built, while Colin is relatively big and strong and heavy and ruthless. The net result is David gasping for breath, pushing helplessly against Colin's broad chest while Colin delightedly straddles and continues to tickle him.

"Mercy," wheezes David, trying to convey through his eyes that this is not the fun game Colin seems to think it is. "Stop – please –"

"If you really want me to stop, just use your safeword," Colin teases, slowing down just enough to let David pant out a response. "You remember your safeword, right, David?"

"I – I don't have one – I don't know..."

"Oh, yes you do, dear. Come on, now, really concentrate. You must remember something about our time together – if you really, truly put your mind to it."

"I don't – I can't – ah!" David convulses as Colin starts tickling him in earnest again. Even if it were possible for him to reach back into his blacked-out memories and retrieve a single word, the situation in which he finds himself leaves him barely able to remember his own name. All he can do is shove pathetically at the man bearing down on him.

"This is just embarrassing," Colin sighs. He catches both David's wrists in one hand and pins them above his head. "The sooner you start to relax, the more fun we're going to have together. We used to have so much fun together!"

Finding himself now officially restrained, David panics and jerks his knee up at Colin's groin; the next thing he knows, Colin has released him and is recoiling in silent, blinded, furious pain.

Trembling and still struggling to regain his breath, David scrambles backwards and staggers to his feet against the wall. For a second he stares transfixed at the figure curled up on the floor. Right now it seems capable of little beyond rocking and hissing viciously to itself. In that moment, David feels a sudden strange rush of power and, with it, the urge to go further – to kick Colin in the stomach, smash his glasses, break his hands for daring to lay them on David's body where they weren't welcome. Almost as soon as the impulse comes, it's gone again, and David is stumbling away down a corridor as fast as he can.

He doesn't know where he's going; only that he can't go back to his cupboard. If Colin found him there before, he can do it again – whether he chooses to come back for revenge, or simply to pick up where he left off. David weaves through the base at random, hurrying through abandoned sectors and down dusty staircases, all the while still expecting to hear footsteps behind him.

At last he skids to a halt outside a likely-looking supply closet, much like his own but in another part of the base entirely. He slips inside and the close, cosy darkness immediately goes a long way to soothe his mind. By touch, he finds a broom and does his best to wedge the door handle up with it; at least it might slow any intruder down for a few seconds, or make enough noise to wake David up. A few seconds' warning to defend himself might make all the difference.

It's warm in here, and the floor is hard, just the way David likes it. Pulling his tattered coat around him, he settles down amongst the mops and bottles of bleach, and waits for his heart rate to return to normal. The familiar sounds of pipes and vents in the walls sound almost like robotic voices offering comfort.

He can still feel Colin's hands on him. In a more literal sense, he can still taste the lollipop he gave him and then took away so abruptly.

Whatever happened to David in the years he forgot, it had something to do with Colin. That much seems unambiguous now, though he has no idea what exactly it might have entailed. His throat tightens at the thought. How much of himself has he given away and forgotten? How much of him is Colin still holding prisoner? This is the worst violation of all, to be known so intimately without even knowing it. He can't get it back, now, and he has the creeping feeling that he's already begun repeating the mistakes of the past.

This time, when he sleeps, he dreams about spending time with Colin – doing some things which simply cannot be true, and others which seem disturbingly likely. He can't tell which, if any, are real memories. He does know that in all his dreams, he has the profound sense of being very deeply in love.


End file.
